A Letter to Professor Soludo CBN Governor

A Letter to Professor Soludo CBN Governor; Follow Peace or Dem Go Deny You

Prince Charles Dickson

Jos, Plateau Nigeria .

My dear professor, compliments, I was glad when you were named successor to the old horse Joseph Sanusi, I was one of those who believed you were going to bring vibrancy, efficiency and everything good into the CBN.

Prof., like all Charles’ I believe you are noble, going through your resume I was happy, with a track record that could make anyone green with envy.

However in view of you recent postulations, on the remedy to our banking sector. One fears that you may have to “follow peace” as your name implies.

You started by giving eighteen months for banks to meet your demands on recapitalisation, mergers and acquisitions, withdrawal of government funds. I am not an economist, nor a banker, however I believe that I cannot be denied the right to contribute in this debate. In your academic presentation, you listed places where mergers have been successful and thus on their strength postulated that, it would succeed here in Nigeria too. You did not tell us the events that led to, necessitated and triggered off those mergers in the U.S, Europe , Latin America and Asia .

Much as I do not doubt your intelligence, but dear CBN Governor, banks in Brazil , Chile Argentina and part of Asia did not consolidate, as you wrongly wanted us to believe. They ‘crismerged’ this means they merged in latter as a result of the bread effects of the collapse of the mighty Tiger and as for the former the economic crisis in the nations facilitated what we call a crisis arrangement.

As an academician I do not think you will succeed with the ‘intellectual intimidation’ approach in handling the decay in the banking industry…we are not all-120million morons. Besides with the level of exposure, awareness and consciousness out there, one should be careful with facts, your presentation, was tilted to suit your theory, they missed simply logic. Nigeria is not the University of Nsukka where you finish teaching a class, then you fix a timetable for exams, no class discussion, and no assignments…”garbage in, garbage out”

Mergers are business processes, I am sure you know that much, you don’t force people to merge, you advice people to, on the strength of superior arguments for, so much is involved in mergers especially within a finance firm. It is not an eighteen months arrangement

to create your so-called ‘mega banks’.

No insults meant, but while you were in ‘NEED’ you were not merged, were you? You had no deadline. Maybe I should suggest that the CBN merge with the Finance Ministry, hence we have always believed the CBN is a stooge, not a neutral arbiter.

In most of the nations you mentioned, what is the basis for comparison. Most of these countries had an inflation rate of between 3-5%, ours is at an alarming 23. Something %, will mergers bring that down?

The banking ownership system is one you should also look at…as a university don I expect you to know the importance of research. All the same let me enlighten you. We run an ownership style called ‘family bank system’ see Oceanic, Diamond, First Atlantic et al. Banks that are predominately a one man riot squad, you think any bank chairman is ready to step down for some Malaysian styled merger procedure and surrender their sweat and livelihood.

My dear Prof., you have to look at the environment, each bank with its available strength can function well within a healthy banking space.

Charles my namesake, most of the foreign borrowed concepts, lecturers like you bombarded into my head while in school are not as practicable as they appear in the textbooks written by Woolworth for Yorkshire in

England to solve English problems not Nigerian problems. Our federalism is an example of total failure. If you had suggested a ‘Nigerian merger’ the Nigerian way, then we would have enjoyed your lecture. Your merger should not be in form of the Nigerian

Football Association Decree101.

Treads softly, softly if not dem go deny you, when all these go sour. Already your stewardship in NEEDS was needless to say the least. You can do better, you are intelligent but retrace you step for now because you have goofed.

The Nigerian market cannot support this beautiful invention of yours at least for now. You don’t just merge like that. What will be the product of an Oceanic and Bank of the North merger, First Bank and Diamond, Lion Bank and Zenith Bank, my dear, disaster go happen

That the Almagated Banks of South Africa ABSA has more money than even CBN is not an issue, do you know that Diamond Bank has been on the talking table with them for over five years, merger is not a 90 minutes

football match.

I think your romance with governance is suddenly paying off in confusion as you already are speaking like a politician “citizens do this, by this time or else, yet you do nothing in return”

If you believe strongly in this new dream of yours, then, I want to see CBN merge, recapitalise and meet all international set standards in eighteen months.

With regards